Astoria Indian Grill - Wichita — Restaurant in Wichita

The service here is very rigid and chaotic. Let me explain: I was the first one seated and in the door by a wide margin. She took our order and plate of 56? ( Chicken chunks ) Came out in a timely manner, but was offered no sauce and they don't have ranch. . . . . I don't care how authentic your place is trying to be you are here in America where people want to do their chicken chunks in ranch. My wife got her order after some time has passed, but my order took a considerable amount of time after that to arrive to my table. My wife never ate Indian food before and was very specific to be not spicy or at very least minimal spiciness. Her order was so spicy that she only ate two bites and refused to eat anymore. The spiciness was about a level of eating a jalapeno alone with nothing else. My wife saw that they had fried rice and wanted fried rice with her order instead of white rice, but the lady said she would not do substitutions. We ended up ordering some shrimp fried rice, but they were out of ?shrimp? What place runs out of ingredients and let's the patrons order it just to have their hopes deflated?l This place is too strict with their policy of ordering. This place needs to allow substitutions of this nature. My wife was very unhappy here and when we told the lady about how spicy our food was she tried to explain that this was an Indian place and that's how we do it here. To which I replied Yes, but your here in America where you cater to Americans. If someone requests not spicy give them no spicy. You cater to the people who come in and buy your food not the ideas you cling to on your preconceived notions of what your food should taste like. I will not support a place who can't accommodate my wife's taste. The real nail in the coffin was the rigidity of the ordering and the obvious lack of caring on the lady's part. I'm not one of those people who chronically complain to get free things and when I told her the order was too hot, after specifically telling her we wanted it not spicy, she didn't offer empathy or even a discount. Maybe you can get away with treating other people poorly, but my wife and I will not be back even if the...

Been a few times now and I got to say this place is one of the top Indian restaurants in Wichita and if they were willing to fix a few things they could probably be the best.

First off I gave the food 4 stars as that is definitely the highlight. They use more spices and have more flavor than most other options in town. However, their rice is pretty terrible and it really takes the curries, and the meal generally, down a level. The rice is some generic long grain rice and not basmati. They overcook it with no seasoning and then reheat it to order in a microwave. Really lame, bland, and super mushy.

Their biggest issue, and this has happened each and every time we dine in, is the almost complete lack of service. Not like they are doing it poorly but they just aren't trying at all. No waters or silverware unless you ask for them. They always forget any drinks you do order (soda, chai tea, etc.) as well. I would be more flexible if it weren't for all the wasted bodies texting and standing around.

Specifically there are always two gentlemen whom stand around in their pajamas up front taking to go orders and ringing people up. No matter how bored they are they don't move from this area. The whole dining room could be out of water and they don't look or care. Maybe they are the owners or something but it is definitely a waste of personnel.

I share all of this as I will definitely be back, but the main reason we go to this location is a sit down experience which they don't handle as well as their carryout orders.

For carryout I still prefer New Paradise, mainly because they don't mess up the...

As soon as you open the door, you're met with a powerful smell of curry. I ordered the Malai Tikka Kabob, which is great if you're looking for a dish that's not full of rice. It was basically chicken served on a bed of cabbage with a side of raw purple onions. The chef's garlic sauce that came with it was more like pureed greens than garlic. My husband ordered the Special Chicken Biryani bowl. It was loaded with rice and came with a yoghurt sauce and (what I'm assuming was) a curry sauce. The flavor was different. I personally am not sure I would combine the different flavors found in the bowl, but my pallette is not very refined when it comes to Indian food, either. We both ordered our dishes at a medium spice level, but the biryani bowl was significantly spicier than mine. The chicken in both dishes was somewhat dry. Service was OK. There was only 1 lady working the entire front of the house. We know she was busy, but our water glasses did run dry for a while. We opted for water (which was served at room temperature, no ice) since soda is by the can. All other drinks are specialty drinks. The atmosphere was very welcoming, and the timeliness of getting our food was adequate. However, the biryani bowl came out about 5 minutes before the kabob and side of garlic naan. Overall, it was a pleasant experience, but I can't honestly say it was a 'must try again'...